Monday, July 21, 2014

"Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.

Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next Summer."

- Jenny Han

As I write this, I can hardly believe that our time has come to an end. I want you to know that I absolutely love our Summers together and am thrilled to hear that you're as enamored with the event as I am. For me, the best bits of the SOC are found between the lines: the friendships being forged, our community coming together and the colorful inspiration found on a weekly basis. The variety alone was enough to keep my jaw on the floor. Thank you for sharing your art and heart with us over these last six weeks. You, your work and your spirit truly are an inspiration!

A Bit About Sharing:

Please know that if you missed a prompt and would still like to give it a go, you can certainly continue to add your links to the widget below each week's post. I promise they do get viewed throughout the year. On that note, if you haven't uploaded your photos to our Flickr pool yet, it's not too late. I love seeing our gallery grow and would be so grateful if you'd post your work there as well. Also, many have asked about our Facebook group and wether or not it will remain open. The answer is a big "Yes!" Although our event has come to a close, the Facebook page will not. Feel free to keep the color conversations going whenever you'd like. We'll be here.

Now, Who Won the Last Giveaway?
Oh right! The winner of the last giveaway for the SOC 4 is . . . .

Oh, you know I wouldn't forget! As a thank you for your support and SOC spirit, this is for you. Please feel free to add it to any of your favorite social media sites. Wether you've joined us for a week or the entire event, you've earned it! (And I hope that you'll love it as much as I do).

And Next Year?

Well now, I did tease you about that, didn't I? As you may have already seen, there's another SOC in our future! I can't wait to tell you all about new, special things happening for our Fifth Anniversary, but um, I'm gonna anyway. But since I did promise you a hint, I'll let you know that for the SOC 5: Color by Number there will be some wiggle room within the palettes. That's right, you'll get to do some of the choosing. How that will work, only time will tell. Summertime that is. But really, you only have to wait until next June to find out . . . .

Monday, July 14, 2014

I'm sitting on a redwood deck overlooking Big Bear Lake, CA as I write this. We arrived over the weekend for a few days of cool weather, mountain air and family time. And although there's so much to love, what I'm noticing more than anything else is the deeply saturated color around here. The blues sparkle more, the greens beg for my attention and last night's sunset seemed to actually be on fire. Okay, I know I'm a bit color-obsessed right now, but I don't care. I'm grateful for the awareness of it. And what I've come to find over our Summers together is that color, in and of itself, just makes me happy. Thank you for for joining this color quest and helping me discover this. I - and it - would not be the same without you.

As we head into our last prompt for The Summer of Color 4: Smudge, Splash & Pop, I hope you'll agree that the community and connection we've fostered has been as much fun as the creating. Your spirit and talents are an inspiration and I want to thank you from the bottom of my color-laden heart for sharing them with us here, in our Flickr pool and on our Facebook page. We have one week left to share our color creations with one another and I for one hope that this is our busiest week yet. If you've yet to join us, make this your time. After all, I've saved one of the best palettes for last. You could even say that I found inspiration from Summer itself. . . .

This Week:
We'll be working on our sixth - of six - color palettes. Your prompt will include two main colors along with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of a third. As ever, you may create anything at all, as long as it's based upon the colors of the week. So, ready for our last challenge? Here we go:

You know the drill. Create anything you'd like in Raspberry & Tangerine (with that Smudge, Splash or Pop or Lemon) and link it to the widget below. To qualify for the Raspberry and Tangerine drawing, please copy and paste your direct blog link or direct Pinterest, Facebook or Flickr feed (or anything else that will link ;) by this Sunday, (10:00 am Pacific Standard Time), July 20th. Only one link per person, please.

Ready? Okay then, Go!

And Our Last Giveaway?
Don't miss your chance to win these little pretties:

Two sets of Recollections alpha embellishments in the colors, a few decorative napkins for collage, three large Amsterdam Acrylic tubes (4.1 oz) in Primary Magenta, Gold Yellow and Nickel Titan Yellow, a gorgeous 6 x 6 stencil from Balzer Designs, a package of 3mm Hot Fix Swarovski Crystals, three tiny Distress Inks in (can you believe it?) Pickled Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed, a large (8 oz) jar of Satin Mod Podge and, finally, a sprinkling of loose Swarovski crystals in clear and clear iridescent.

Love it? As a matter of fact, I (for the first time this Summer ;) just created a journal page using bits of the napkins shown above. Pop over to my Instagram page to see if you can find them.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Where has the time gone?! I can hardly believe that we're heading into Week Five of The Summer of Color 4: Smudge, Splash & Pop! I know a lot of us are already dreading the end, but not to fear! There are still two weeks left of challenging color prompts, colorful giveaways and time together in our amazingly creative community. And as far as fun things are concerned, two weeks left is quite a lot indeed. So keep the creativity flowing and the love going 'cause we're headed towards another color conundrum. . .

This Week:

We'll be working on our fifth - of six - color palettes. Your prompt will include two main colors along with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of a third. Feel free to create anything at all that you'd like, as long as it's based upon the colors of the week. And if you've just found us, welcome! You can read all about the party here, check out our Facebook page here and see all SOC photos in one place over here. Oh, and if you're into social media, please use the hashtag #TheSummerofColorFour so we can all find each other out there.

Yeah, Yeah. We Wanna See the Colors!

I gotcha. Although I know it looks as if this week's palette was influenced by last week's holiday in the States, I promise this has been in the kitty for a while. Having said that, it is a cool combination, one which I hope you'll love. Ready? Here we go:

Okay, Cool. Now What?
Now you create! When you're done, you may link your Red & Royal Blue (with that Smudge, Splash or Pop of Light Blue) to the widget below. To qualify for the Red & Royal Blue drawing, please copy and paste your direct blog link or direct Pinterest, Facebook or Flickr feed by this Sunday, (10:00 am Pacific Standard Time), July 13th. Only one link per person, pretty please.
Ready? Okay, Link:

Oh! And What About the New Giveaway?

Right! I think it's another pretty cool one, yes?

Two Craft Smart ink pads in Red and Blue, one set of 10 (adorable) red notecards, one large Recollections stamp in a lattice pattern, three PanPastel Artists' Pastels in Permanent Red, Phthalo Blue and Turquoise, one gorgeous Fabriano 5.8 x 8.25 red journal, two Martha Stewart high gloss multi-surface craft paints in Habanero and Indigo and, for the vintage fans among us, two child's toy blocks (from my personal stash) in the colors and, naturally, a sprinkling of both clear and light blue Swarovski Crystals.

And Who Won Last Week's Giveaway?

I hear tell that it's a birthday girl! That Random Number Generator really knew what it was doing this week. Happy Birthday and Congratulations to: